Baldpate Inn offers 'Mountaineering for the Regular Guy' July 3

Brad Martin presents free ideas at Summer Enchanted Evenings series

Join us at The Baldpate Inn on July 3 at 7 p.m., for "Mountaineering for the Regular Guy," presented by mountaineering expert Brad Martin.

Martin moved from Iowa to Estes Park after college in 1989. Once he had climbed all the mountains he could in Iowa, he opted for a more challenging terrain. During his beginning years in Estes Park, he worked at the Baldpate Inn. Any off time that he had he used to truly begin his mountaineering career. That first summer was filled with many mountain hikes, including his first Longs Peak ascent and a ridiculous, but life-changing, introduction to technical rock climbing by some fellow Iowans. Since that fateful summer, Martin has married, bought a home in Allenspark and had two great kids. He later became a school teacher, climbed up and skied down mountains throughout the western United States and has taken climbing trips to Alaska, Mexico and Europe. His wife, Reneé, and children, Lily and Finnian, put up with his occasional gloating. They know, like he does, that the mountains he loves will never make him famous, but they sure do matter.

As a sport, mountaineering started off as attempts to reach the highest unclimbed points of large mountains. Since then, the sport or hobby has broken off into three different categories: rock-craft, snow-craft and skiing. Required skill level varies based on terrain, altitude and season. Whether you are a veteran mountaineer or just an interested citizen, you can learn the tricks of the trade and maybe plan to conquer a mountain on your own!

This free information session is part of the Summer Enchanted Evenings series that runs from June through September at the Baldpate Inn. The Wednesday evening series is part history, part natural history and part show- and-tell. Topics range from history to hiking. Check out the website at BaldpateInn.com or call 970-586-6151 for further information and for other Summer Enchanted Evening events all summer long.

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Attendees are also invited to make reservations for dinner to enjoy the homemade soup and salad buffet before the enchanted evenings begin.